Hearing Scheduled On Elmcrest Manor Property In Portland

Have thoughts on the old Elmcrest Manor property, in Portland? Come to a hearing.

PORTLAND – The town is seeking community input to help guide the redevelopment of the old Elmcrest Manor property, vacant now for more than a decade.

The economic development commission is hosting a workshop Tuesday evening in which residents are encouraged to share their ideas for the reuse of the 14-acre former psychiatric hospital along Main Street and Route 66.

"This is a key meeting," said Elwin Guild, chairman of the Elmcrest Campus Advisory Committee, which has been working to jumpstart the stalled development and move it in a new direction. "I'm hopeful that there will be a good turnout despite St. Patrick's Day."

The workshop, which takes place at 7 p.m. in the Portland Middle School, is being led by the Boston-based Cecil Group, a consortium of urban planners and architects that were hired to work with the town and property owner to craft a new plan for the property and develop a market analysis.

"This workshop will be the trigger for the work that will be assigned to the consultants," Guild added.

Real estate consultants Bartram and Cochran and the environmental engineering firm of Tighe & Bond have been brought in to assist with the report, which is being funded by a $50,000 grant from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, under the Vibrant Cities Initiative.

Three landmark buildings sit on the Elmcrest site, including an Italianate villa designed by the renowned New Haven architect, Henry Austin, as well as the childhood home of Elizabeth Jarvis-Colt, wife of armsmaker Samuel Colt.

Property owner Fouad M. Hassan had planned to demolish the structures to make way for a $40 million mixed-use development known as Towne Place. But the project, which won approval in 2009, and featured a supermarket, retail shops and townhouses, stalled during the recession. The project is no longer seen as viable.

Hassan, a Shelton accountant, acquired the property from St. Francis Care Behavioral Health, which operated Elmcrest until it closed in 2005.

The town's present vision for the property seeks to incorporate the historic buildings into the new development, with a "plan that adds economic value to the town and the entire district that surrounds the Elmcrest site," town planner Deanna Rhodes said.

Rhodes added that the town wants to work with the developer "to identify the types of funding and financing that may need to be applied to reposition the property and achieve a quality outcome."